1 in 5 unfit to be parents
ONE in five Australian mums and dads is unfit to be a parent, according to child-health expert and former Australian of the Year Professor Fiona Stanley. She says they either lack the means or the life skills to raise children or cannot devote enough time to their kids because of excessive work commitments.
She said a national effort - on the scale of the climate-change movement - was needed to protect the futures of Australian children. She said:
"There are a worrying number of threats to children’s health in society today.
"If we don’t respond to these challenges … we will be looking at our generation, my generation, as being the last generation that lives longer than its parents.
"If you look at the overall trend in many problems, they are actually showing no improvement - and some of them are getting dramatically worse."
and also:
"There’s this increasing group of parents who are just not making ends meet. They don’t have the capacity to be parents.”
"There are a lot of people who are going to find it difficult to parent."
I actually suspect she’s understating the problem ….there are more than 20% of people who are not suitable to be parents. You only have to look at some of the kids you see around the place, and read the stories of neglect and abuse.
One thing that really concerns me for the future is that more often than not its those who are unsuitable who are having the most children, the welfare dependent, those with drug, alcohol, gambling problems, those who are incapable of maintaining stable family relationships. Over time, we see children who are 2nd/3rd/4th generation welfare dependents, who have never known a stable home environment, who are exposed to domestic violence, ever changing parents and step-parents, alcohol and drug abuse, lack of attention to their education, healthcare and proper nutrition, and the absence of good role models. You see feral parents having feral kids, who screw things up for other people – for example by disrupting the schooling of those kids who want to learn.
Its sad that the only qualification needed to be a parent is that your boy/girl bits work as intended. We need training and skills testing, and licenses, to do things like drive a car, or work in most types of job. But parenting children, which is undoubtedly far more complex and carries greater responsibilities, is open to just about anyone.
Not only that, but here in Australia, our government actively encourages people to have babies – by paying them a baby bonus of $5,000 for each child. This is something I’ve never agreed with. I think it encourage irresponsible people to breed when they shouldn’t be …. everyone hears anecdotes about plasma TVs and the like being bought with the money. How widespread this is is debatable but undoubtedly it does happen. The bonus is paid as a lump sum (except if you’re under 18, in which case it is paid over 6 months in instalments). I think paying it in instalments, for example as a top up of family allowance for the first 2 years of the child’s life, would be a good move. I think placing conditions on it would be good, for example successful completion of parenting education prior to the birth of the child, and the meeting of certain milestones after birth, eg attending with the child for baby health clinic checkups at specified intervals. I don’t think its unreasonable for governments to specify conditions for getting paid taxpayers’ money, particularly conditions which are sensible, reasonable and aimed at ensuring the money is used properly.
I’d go further and take positive steps to stop people who are clearly unsuitable from breeding. For example, people who are known or suspected to be substance abusers, or who have prior history of child abuse. Where these people are (as is the case often) on welfare, make it conditional on them taking suitable contraceptive measures (why not have Centrelink - or at least doctors on their behalf - instal contraceptive implants and replace them however often that is required?).
